I have a secret - odometer display mystery

[wmcbrine]

I have a really hard time believing that someone bought a $23k car and only drove it 300 miles.

My 2012 i-MiEV had barely over a thousand miles on it when I bought it in 2015.

Of course, it turned out to have kind of a weird history -- originally "owned" by the City of Gaithersburg, who I later found out had received it for free from the dealer (the same one where I eventually got it). They got some publicity for it, somebody pocketed the $7500 rebate, and then I guess they pretty much parked it for the term of the "lease".

 

[phb10186]

Does PA have legal recourse for tampered odometers?

Well for a start, any vehicle with a 'mileage inconsistency' would be worth less than one without surely.

So not only do you have the inconsistency (in the non-beneficial direction), but you also have the history issue as a result, and - what would be at the front of my mind - is an easy way Mitsubishi could reject any warranty claim (assuming they check that/ decide based on it). Hopefully that doesn't invalidate your warranty - even if you bought it completely unaware of anything. May be worth trying to get that on paper.

I wonder what the legal position is where the purchaser was unaware, and did not undertake the background Carfax (or equivalent) check? It's clear foul play in my eyes, as the numbers are too different and too random for it to be a mistake, and I am sure there is no shortage of case law to support that.

You've had the car for less than a year - so maybe you are automatically protected by law for a certain period (i'm not familiar with US law).

Even if you could get it corrected, it would be impossible to know the exact mileage, as you have a period of 7 months between the 14K figure and the 3k figure, with no recorded data.

 

[bradleydavidgood777]

I don't know about the law in PA.

The more I think about it the more I think it was a mistake on the dealer's end. I remember the car looking really new inside and out, tires, etc. I think maybe the service mileage was showing on the display and they recorded that.

Also the fact that it was on a fleet - could easily explain that it just sat.

I think my best option is to contact the dealer where I bought it and see if they can correct it some how - there must be some way to correct clerical errors within a certain period. Either way I just have this feeling that I should bring it into the open before any more time goes by.

 

[Phximiev]

I don't know about the law in PA.

The more I think about it the more I think it was a mistake on the dealer's end. I remember the car looking really new inside and out, tires, etc. I think maybe the service mileage was showing on the display and they recorded that.

Also the fact that it was on a fleet - could easily explain that it just sat.

I think my best option is to contact the dealer where I bought it and see if they can correct it some how - there must be some way to correct clerical errors within a certain period. Either way I just have this feeling that I should bring it into the open before any more time goes by.

I think you should call a lawyer. Here there are plenty that will give a free consultation and more than likely there are lawyers in PA that will do the same.

 

[kiev]

That sort of thing happens at the DMV all the time; so they have an affidavit form that the dealer can submit to correct the odometer error. Not a big deal at all, no lawyers required to process their form.

 

[phb10186]

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/news/ferrari-admits-allowing-dealers-to-adjust-mileage-on-used-cars/ar-BBJHe9g?li=AAnZ9Ug&ocid=mailsignout


Look, Ferrari have been sanctioning this sort of foul play for years.... looks like another scandal that's probably more widespread than we think.

Still unsure how you will 'correct' the reading, as you have an unknown period, so you can only aim for more accuracy at this point. I'd get a lawyer involved, you may well get some compensation out of it for nothing, and it would act as a good lever for the practice to lessen - win win.

 

[bradleydavidgood777]

Update on this story!

I contacted York Mitsu where I bought the car and got pushback from the first person I talked to, and I pushed back to him. He said someone will call me. Then the sales rep Ken who sold me the car called. I explained the situation. He asked for a video. I took a video of the odometer, cycling thru the numbers and then turned the camera on my VIN plate. I sent him the video along with the receipt from the dealer here showing the mileage as 3000 some...in Feb when I had the airbag recall done.

Ken said he'd work on it. 2 months past and I followed up regularly, sometimes hearing back from Ken promises, sometimes he didn't respond. After about 7 weeks he told me that his manager started the process with CarFax. I said great, please send me the paperwork. He said what paperwork? I said what you submitted. He said they did it online. I said great, send me the confirmation email. He said "If I you don't mind telling me why do you want paperwork?" I said "If you don't mind can you tell me why you would be against sending me the confirmation email? Because it's been over 2 months and I've not seen anything and it would make me feel like I don't have to contact your GM, owner and a lawyer". He said "If you don't believe me call my manager blah blah...." I said Its not that I don't believe you but humans want confirmation that something is being worked on. Every online service provides a confirmation with a tracking number because of this. I am human. Send me the email.
A week or two went by and I got nothing....because it was non-existent.

I typed up a nice letter (less than a page) and addressed it to his manager, his GM and the owner, printed 3 copies and sent three envelopes. I included 3 pages of texts back and forth to Ken with dates and times on each message.

Days after this I got a call from his manager appologizing profusely and saying that CarFax would not update the record unless the title was updated and his admin Kristy was working on it. Then got a call from Kristy....etc.

I am happy to report that I now have an updated title and a clean CarFax report!

The car was owned by "dealer fleet" and they confirmed that it was not driven much and used for show sometimes. So it did in fact only have 455 miles on it when I bought it! Very cool. Now it has 6k.